Ah, all horses are mammals, but not all mammals are horses. While there are non-Turkish restos in greater LA which say that they’re Mediterranian, there are, as far as I know, almost NO Turkish restaurants which call themselves “Turkish” on their signs or ads, with the exception of “Spitz” (Including Sevan Garden Kebabs downtown, which is as Turkish as can be…)
Much though I’d really like places that went beyond kebabs or even that did them with as much panache, and with meze as snappy as say, Sultan’s Kitchen in Boston, it doesn’t seem to be happening soon.
…and yeah, I’ve noted the quantity of stuff in nominally Armenian markets that’s from Turkey.
Sofra on Venice in Palms calls itself Turkish. The food is pretty much all kebabs though. And I haven’t been, but there’s a Cafe Istanbul in Beverly Hills.
For one - how on earth they got a permit in Santa Monica when they have no parking is a mystery. (they have valet in the evening, but for lunch? You have to find street parking or park at the Santa Monica Civic)
They have a large blackboard over their seafood bar. And it has a large variety of cured meats and fish. But - get this - it’s for “decoration” - they may or may not have some of the offerings on that blackboard. Get that? The only reason I went back was because of that. Then i was told to ignore it . Infuriating.
sorry it took me a while to anwer this. i’'ve heard of the place, but the menu looked… more japanese than overtly okinawan, if that makes any sense. plus distance & the price of gas are still factors in my choices of places to visit.
something i really miss are catholic churches with a largely central european ethnic background offering batches of homemade pierogis for lunch on meatless fridays.
sauteed in butter and served with grilled onions and sour cream. good cheap comfort food, followed by a food coma that made you useless at work for the rest of the afternoon.
When my nephew was living in LA . He went to the Saint Casimir Lithuanian Catholic church for a festival and said they had all kinds of great food . We are of Lithuanian decent . Are they still doing this ?
The Creole Chef does an occasional fish fry at Holy Name church. It’s been years since I went, and information is sadly hard to come by. Try Redirecting...
What London has that L.A. doesn’t Indian-wise is sheer volume + quality, equivalent to our Mexican food. One high end Indian there might be disappointing, like a single trip to Border Grill or El Tepeyac might be here. But like our taco trucks and hole in the wall Mexican, every London neighborhood has a kick-ass corner Indian place that’s better than any single Indian place in L.A., hands down. Honestly, it’s the only thing I miss about London.
i visitied my share of michelin starred restaurants in france, but i recall enjoying the bistro meals more, especially if they had a cheap house red that was selected to complement the menu. ate pretty well for cheap at truck stops too. i regret never making it to lyons. that’s on the bucket list.
Interested to hear your report (but perhaps it deserves its own thread?). Hanjip looks like it has some nice ingredients. I was a little surprised to find out it’s the Mo-Chica / Faith & Flower restauranteur x Seoul Sausage guy, though not sure what I was expecting. Anyway, I didn’t know there were giant scarlet prawns in LA; that’s quite a find.